Most residents of Somerset and Kitchissippi wards are open to raising taxes to fund improved services from the City of Ottawa, according to feedback given to the ward’s two city councillors at a recent public budget consultation for the 2016 municipal budget.
About 30 people attended the Oct. 8 meeting and almost 40 per cent said they disagreed when asked if they were satisfied with existing services provided by the city. On top of the almost 40 per cent, another 18 per cent of people said they strongly disagreed.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said she believes people are worried about cuts to services and programs because of the $41 million deficit run by the city in 2015.
“If we were here today and people felt that they were satisfied with what they were getting I don’t think they’d be looking for more,” she said. “I think people are worried about cuts to services.”
McKenney said the city budgeted for a 1.7-per-cent tax increase in the 2015 budget but that increase has not generated enough money to fill the city’s coffers.
“We are growing,” McKenney said. “We’ve got new roads, we’ve got new community centres, we’ve got more residents and we’re not funding that growth.”
The city held budget consultation meetings for all wards to get residents’ ideas and input for the City of Ottawa’s 2016 budget. People at the Kitchissippi-Somerset meeting, which was held at Makerspace North, worked in small groups to discuss how they would deal with budget issues relating to social services, parks and recreation, arts and culture, public transit, and emergency services.
Many residents at the consultation said they are not satisfied with current city services and would be willing to pay higher taxes for better service.
When asked in the survey “to what extent would you agree to increase taxes above two per cent to improve services?” almost three quarters of respondents said they strongly agreed. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said during his 2014 election campaign that he would cap tax increased to two per cent every year.
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, who represents the area immediately west of Centretown, said he personally thinks paying a little more in taxes is worth it but said the city can only tax its residents so much.
“The taxpayer is not a bottomless pit of money,” he said.
Both McKenney and several people who attended the meeting pointed out that the people who came do not fully represent the population of the two wards. One indication, she said, was that most people at the meeting said they were homeowners.
“We’ve got lower income communities, communities where the first language isn’t English, we have a lot of people who aren’t out here,” she said.
Roland Dorsay attended the meeting and said he wished there were more people at the consultation, but added he was happy with the discussion it generated.
“I wish there were a lot more people here because the budget is a subject that is probably the single most important thing city council does all year,” Dorsay said.
Feedback from the budget consultations will influence the city’s draft budget which will be presented by council on Nov. 12.